Kericho: Autopsy on 33 bodies delayed over mortuary's lack of resources

The government pathologist, Dr Richard Njoroge, said the facilities at the mortuary were not adequate. The development comes as the public and civil society called for speedy investigations into the baffling incident that has put the green county under the national spotlight.

The arrival of the government pathologist at the Kericho County Hospital mortuary signalled the start of the next step in unravelling the mystery of the 33 bodies buried in mass graves in the county’s cemetery.

"We have spoken to the pathologist. He has let us know that they first want to assess the morgue to find out if it has the facility, equipment, and capacity to conduct the postmortem. They also want to assess what they will begin with, whether they will do a postmortem first or DNA first." Tony Were, from the Independent Medico-Legal Unit, stated. 

However, an assessment of the facility by Dr Richard Njoroge returned a negative verdict. The state of the mortuary and its capacity was not sufficient to conduct the postmortem exams. The medical examination of the exhumed corpses was also intended to enable the identification of the bodies.

"Apart from the bodies that were retrieved, we know there were also limbs that were retrieved. They will need to establish whether the limbs belong to the bodies retrieved or if they were from elsewhere," Were added. 

The thirty-three bodies were recovered following the discovery of the mass graves in the county’s cemetery on Saturday last week.

An exhumation exercise carried out by the authorities on Tuesday revealed the contents of the graves as bodies of 25 children and eight adults. The residents of the county said the deaths of the young ones now hang as a dark shadow over the county.

"Wengi ni watoto. Upande huo wa watoto ni uchungu sana. Watoto wako na haki ya kuishi hata kabla hajazaliwa. This is a very serious human rights violation ambayo hata kwa Mungu haikubaliki," David Ruto, chairman, Kericho civil society organisations, noted. 

As they await the start of the medical examinations, the civil society organisations keeping an eye on the unfolding situation highlighted that they would support the government not only to facilitate the postmortems but also to offer psychosocial support to the families of the deceased.

More importantly, they stated they want the truth about this bizarre occurrence.

"They should fast-track and the pathologists to get us the truth. They should find out where the people came from as we know the people buried at makaburini didn’t come from this county." Agnes Boit, Voices for Justice-CBO, noted. 

The residents also want the local leaders to intervene as the search for the truth continues.